Lemna
minuscula #
Minute
floating perennial aquatics, consisting of a fleshy or membranaceous, loosely
cellular, thallus-like stem or frond, rootless or with 1 or more simple
rootlets. Lvs. lacking.
New stems produced from 2 lateral vegetative pouches or 1 terminal, the
new frond being attached to the old by a short slender stalk and usually soon
separating. Fls. very rare, the
infl. consisting of 1 female and 1 or 2 male fls. borne in a saclike spathe in a
flowering pouch on the edge of the upper surface of the frond.
Perianth 0. Staminate fl. consists of 1 stamen, with 2-4 pollen sacs.
Pistillate fl. of 1 flasklike pistil, with 1-several ovules.
Fr. a 1-6 seeded utricle. About
4 genera and 30 species. (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 918).
Upper
Newport Bay species within the family: